“Live on the Lawn”: Another Great Opportunity to see Live Music and Performance

Music, art and performance are pretty much everywhere on the island this summer.

There are Wednesday night concerts at Battle Point Park, sponsored by our own Parks District, any number of bands popping up at local restaurants and watering holes on almost any given night, and even performances happening at unlikely venues like Meadowmeer Golf & Country Club.

Bainbridge Performing Arts is no exception and has held its “Live on the Lawn” series for most of July and August. It’s last concert of the season will be held tomorrow evening at 7 p.m., featuring the musical, “Nikola Tesla and the Mother of Invention” from Matheatre.

Until last week, we hadn’t caught any of these performances, but thanks to a friend’s invitation (she plays Cello), we attended “An Evening of Chamber Music”.  I’ll be honest; I’m not a huge orchestral or symphony fan. If given my druthers, I’d rather listen to Pink Floyd or Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

But while I wasn’t totally converted to the sound after listening to more than 2.5  hours of varying classical pieces, I was impressed with the musicianship of the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra and their guests, the beautiful arrangements and the stunning setting.

As the sun was setting and the gloam was taking over, the music combined with the warm night, the overhanging trees and the lights strung overhead made it feel like you were in a garden tucked away in Tuscany or maybe Provence.  By the way, I’ve never been in either of those places, but I have a vivid imagination.

The evening began with the Valhalla Brass Quintet from Seattle and included a stunning performance from young violin prodigy Yvette Kraft to works by the Bainbridge Symphony Quartet to a rousing performance by Cello Mania – 14 cellist who stroked out a number of fun pieces that solicited a very warm response from the crowd, which by this time was nearly in the dark.

Valhalla churned out everything from Bach to Hoagy Carmichael and the Tijuana Brass, while the symphony played some Mendelssohn and Haydn among others. The young soloist was enchanting playing in front of the local orchestra conducted by Maestro Mario Alejandro Torres.

Check out the attached videos for a quick listen to last week’s concert. Even if you’re not a diehard classic music fan like me, they are sure to be ear-pleasing!

BPA Live on the Lawn August 2021 and  BPA Live on the Lawn (2) August 2021

Meanwhile, you might think about attending tomorrow night’s performance featuring Matheatre’s “Nikola Tesla and the Mother of Invention.” It’s basically the musical story of how the brilliant  inventor of electricity, Nikola Tesla, emerged from a role model who was an uneducated, illiterate housewife: his mother, Djuka. She tinkered, experimented and invented, making a science of the domestic sphere.

Matheatre essentially uses live theatre to tell stories that inspire excitement about math and science. Enjoy!